28
May
2019
There are four typographical faux pas you should assiduously avoid: double spaces after the full stop (period), double carriage returns on paragraph, multiple carriage returns to start a new page, and the tab key. These simple tips on how to get around these issues can save you time and money.
26
Apr
2018
Expunging fictional hills is an odd (and funny) thing to do as part of the editorial process. And a non-existent small hill in a real location is not in any way a serious faux pas, but can you imagine the scathing online reviews if you plonked a busy Starbucks into a trendy inner-Melbourne suburb? There are some things you just can’t play around with.
09
Mar
2018
There is a lot of misunderstanding about what a proofreader does, and the role is often confused with the job of editing. Related tasks, but quite different. Proofreaders work exclusively with final typeset (or formatted) copy. It is the finished written product that you are about to print, or launch to the web, that is the proofreader’s purview.
05
Feb
2018
To give your self-published book a fighting chance amongst all that competition, you should follow the professional book publishing process - author revision to manuscript, final edit, book design, cover design, and proofreading of the finished product. Consider your personal strengths and weaknesses, what can you do yourself, and are there aspects you should consider outsourcing?
29
Jun
2017
A free eBook to attract readers to buy ‘book 2’ can work – so why have I only done it once? What were the turn-offs, are there solutions, and just what did that one author do that saw me going on to buy her next two books?
31
May
2017
It's one thing to standardise spelling to local norms, it's quite another to edit out the writer's ‘voice’. Is the routine editing of fiction into American English for the US market the 'dark side' of editing?
26
Apr
2017
Some of his word choices were so odd I was totally flummoxed as what actual word should be used....yet strangely, the piece flowed...
23
Mar
2017
An article suggesting you stuff your website's image description boxes with search keywords? Obviously the writer had never sat in front of a computer, blindfolded, and relied on a screen reader...
28
Feb
2017
Lots of websites poke fun at bad grammar. Funny yes, but I also suffer a twinge of guilt laughing at someone else's expense. So, it was refreshing to come across a ‘grammar’ story with a feel-good vibe. A story where the loser was petty bureaucracy and the underdog triumphed.
18
Jan
2017
If I didn’t have the photo, and wanted to describe my cat, I would say he is a large, fluffy, silver-tabby cat, and by ordering the adjectives as I have, I have unconsciously followed the grammatical rule as to the order of adjectives.